A Burden of Trust
by Engineered for Your Safety
Summary: The storm left some marks on them both. ONE-SHOT / COMPLETE.


Summary: The storm left some marks on them both.

Notes: Holy crap! That was intense. Thought that I'd add to it :)

PS - Edited to correct some typos. Thank you for the complimentary reviews...Several asked if this would continue. Unfortunately, real life (work) is about to get crazy so this & "A Worthy Something" will just be one-shots. Sorry to get your hopes up.

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Clarke exited the drop-ship quickly, trying to ignore the couple that remained inside. Around her the others scrambled, picking up debris under the watchful eye Bellamy and his hunters. Several of the larger kids were just outside the group, weapons ready and eyes on the surrounding forest.

The camp, previously rustic but functional, was a disaster. The storm left almost nothing in tact. Clarke sighed. They would be starting over...No, worse. The storm came on the camp so quickly that some larger items and salvaged equipment never made it inside.

She walked slowly through the crowd, making sure to stay out of everyone's way. Without intending to, Clarke found herself searching for Bellamy. As soon as the storm broke, he had left the ship. Since Octavia had got the information from the grounder, he'd been quiet. Any other time, Clarke would say dangerously so. But she had seen his face as he swung the belt. Seen him look to her each time.

Clarke turned and almost walked straight into Monroe. "Oh! Sorry."

"Watch it." The burly girl ground out.

Clarke held up her hands, nodding her apologies. She attempted go around the girl and check the other side of the now-destroyed camp. Clarke only made it a few paces before noticing that she had a shadow. Behind her, Monroe followed. "What?"

The enforcer shrugged, somewhat belligerently. "Nothing." Clarke frowned, causing the larger girl to fidget slightly with one of the ends of her braids. "Grounders still could be out." Her eyes dropped to Clarke's belt. "You don't have a weapon."

"What? Did Bellamy tell you to follow me for my protection?" Clarke meant it sarcastically but the second the words were out, Monroe's eyebrows raised in surprise and confirmation. Something in Clarke loosened and snapped. "Where is he?"

Monroe leaned away slightly at Clarke's tone but replied. "Said he'd be over in five minutes."

Clarke looked around, grabbing at a pile of branches nearby. "He better be." She dragged the branches (with Monroe's help) over to some kids who were stripping them of leaves and saving the wood. After ripping the first handful of leaves off, Clarke decided that she now understood Bellamy's impulse to smash things. It really was satisfying.

Monroe took a position near the group, her ax out. It seemed like no time at all passed before Clarke heard a voice. "Busy there, Princess?" Bellamy approached. "I thought that you'd be inside, checking on your patient."

Clarke blinked up at him, shaking the leaves off her as she stood. As she walked away from the group, she felt Monroe follow. "Well, it's so hard to concentrate with all the attention." Behind her, Clarke swore she heard Monroe snort.

Bellamy, rolled his eyes slightly at the tone but nodded his head off the right. "Monroe, Willis and Daniels could use a hand with some larger debris by the east wall."

The girl moved to depart only to be stopped by Clarke's voice. "Thank you." Monroe gave her a slightly incredulous look before stomping off in the direction Bellamy indicated.

After the girl departed, Clarke watched Bellamy's face tighten. He approached the last few steps between them, hands abruptly shoved in his pockets. "So, how's Finn?"

"Awake. Raven's with him now." Bellamy's eyebrows went up at that, a question in his eyes. He'd seen her desperation to help Finn. But for whatever reason, he chose not to comment further. Clarke took his caution as a good sign, changing the subject to something a bit more important. "What about the grounder, Bellamy? We can't keep him."

His jaw clenched. "You know what will happen if we let him go."

Clarke gestured to the camp, with the hunters on alert while the others worked. "The same thing that will happen if he stays." She takes a couple of shallow breaths. "I thought we needed to. I thought-" An oddly fragile look flutters across Bellamy's face before it is gone.

A hand comes out of his pocket, loosely grasping her wrist. She looks down a moment, suddenly remembering his hands on her during the interrogation. How oddly careful he'd been. When she looks back up, he appears to have collected himself. His expression is taunt and focused on her. "Who we are and who we need to be to survive very different things."

He's right. Clarke does know that. But she also knows that interrogation was partly her fault. Every swing, Bellamy had looked to her. Every time he didn't budge until her nod. Because she had to save Finn. So, every time she nodded. Every time, Bellamy swung, his face twisting and breaking into something that - "I'm so sorry that I didn't stop you sooner. I should have listened to Octavia sooner. Made you listen."

His fingers around her wrist tightened slightly. "Made me?" The tone was not pleased. Clarke looked up only to find him smirking slightly. Staring, she realized that the humor didn't make it to his eyes.

Clarke stepped in closer, hand grasping his. "Yes. It wasn't fair to you. You shouldn't have had to-"

"No." He shrugged, eyes practically begging her to change the subject. "But sometimes being in charge is hard, right?" Bellamy gestures between them, for the first time acknowledging that the two of them are all that stands between a bunch of kids and everything this world can throw at them.

Clarke stares up at him and something in her breaks. "That first day, I was so angry with you!" She whispered. "You were endangering everything."

The tension in Bellamy's face relaxed; his eyes brighten. "Right back at you."

She smiles slightly, letting out a shaky breath. "But, then I saw that you weren't-" Clarke blinks a few times. "You were good with them, with us. I thought if you would just listen to me a little bit." Bellamy grins. "Then, we'd be safe. But now-"

It was the wrong approach. She knew it as soon as she said it. His hands pulled away, arms folding across his chest. "We're safe." Bellamy said with finality.

"But for how long?" She watched Bellamy take a long look around the camp, clearly trying to get his temper under control. A few days ago, they would have been screaming at each other by now and, to be honest, Clarke didn't know what she preferred. The antagonism, with it a sense that she was doing the right thing, or this odd quiet understanding that left her wondering if she would ever be right again.

After a few moments, he spoke. "What do you want from me, Clarke? I'm just doing-"

"Your best. I know that!." Clarke stepped to close the distance between them, tried to keep her voice low. "But, it took so little for-"

Bellamy glared now. "I'm sorry we've dragged you so far down." His voice was sharp, rising at the end. In the corner of her vision, Clarke could see several nearby workers pause in their tasks.

"Will you shut-up and let me apologize!" Bellamy's face went slack in shock. Her raised voice caused several more of the nearby kids to shoot them wary glances. Clarke made herself ignore them and focused on him. "You trusted me. That it was needed. That it was important. That we had to-" Her voice broke; Clarke found herself blinking furiously, looking anywhere but him.

She felt a tug on her elbow. Clarke scowled up at him, intending to protest. But, far from angry, Bellamy merely met her look, eyes surprisingly understanding. Clarke could not bring herself to stop him from leading her, surprisingly gently, back to the drop-ship. Only instead of going inside, Bellamy pulled them both to the side where there were fewer people between the remains of the camp's wall and the ship.

As they stopped, Bellamy placed his hands on her arms. She watched him glance either way before leaning down and speaking. "Clarke, this is not your fault. Today was not your fault." That fragile look returned. "It was mine."

"I shouldn't have-" Clarke's attempt to interject was cut off as the hands on her arms tightened.

"I chose to swing the belt. I chose to not listen to my sister. I chose-" Bellamy's voice roughened slightly at the last. Clarke couldn't look away as he cleared his throat before continuing. "Chosing to trust you was not the worst thing I did today."

Clarke sagged a little. Leaning towards him, she whispered voice breaking. "But we were wrong."

His hands moved up her arms to her shoulders. "Everyone's wrong sometimes." Bellamy leaned down further. "Even you." He gave a a small smirk, mocking but only softly.

Clarke reached for his jacket, letting her fingers trail the seams on the sleeves a moment before replying. "And tomorrow? If I come to you saying-"

"I'll trust you." Her eyebrow raised before she could stop it. He added. "So long as you're not being too crazy."

A smile escaped before she could stop it. Clarke found herself absurdly grateful for that gruff, exasperated tone. Bellamy's eyes lit up in response and one hand drifted from her shoulder to her neck. As a finger trailed along her jaw, Clarke suddenly realized how this must look. Him and her, standing like this. Bellamy just staring at her like-

"Bellamy!" Monroe's voice rang out from around the corner. They both froze. Only because Clarke was already watching did she see Bellamy's eyes widen. See him also comprehend their position. Clarke felt the hand on her shoulder grasp ever so slightly tighter as she met his increasingly incredulous stare and she very noticeably chose not to step away.

It was absurd and the most alien thing since they had landed. But, Clarke felt fractured and pieced together and whole. Before she knew what she was doing, Clarke found herself leaning closer, fingers clenching the sleeves of Bellamy's jacket-

"Bellam-Oh!" Monroe appeared around the corner, glancing away quickly once she got a look at them. Clarke could see the girl grimacing before speaking in a determinedly casual voice. "The boys are arguing again about-"

Bellamy, arms still practically around her, ground out over his shoulder. "We've been gone what, two minutes?"

Clarke watched the girl shuffle from foot to foot before replying. "You said to get you before it got bad."

With that, Bellamy's grip on Clarke loosened. His hands fell away but he remained close. Clarke frowned at his very pointed look before realizing that she was still gripping his jacket.

She cleared her throat as she let go, pointedly ignoring the twinkle in Bellamy's eye. They stared at each other for a brief moment. Then, like a switch, Bellamy smiled briefly. A kind of smile that usually meant trouble but today, Clarke felt something in her relax for the first time since the storm broke. He appeared to shake himself for a moment before stalking off toward the camp.

Clarke stood there as he rounded past Monroe, gesturing to the girl with the braids quickly before disappearing to resolve whatever dispute had flared up. She took a few deep breaths, noticing that Monroe had not followed.

Although someone else might have made a comment or given Clarke knowing looks, the laconic girl simply stood there. If Monroe's attention to their surroundings was a bit too pointed as Clarke walked back into the main camp, then Clarke was grateful to her for that.


End file.
